Invisible
by Paravie
Summary: Aang is invisible to Katara. Katara is invisible to Zuko. One-sided Kataang and Zutara.
1. Tears

**I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

**~.~.~.~.~**

Aang looked longingly at Katara. Her eyes were shining brightly as she smiled, seeing Zuko walk by. He gave her a friendly wave and kept walking. She stared until he disappeared around the corner. Looking down, disappointed, she noticed Aang out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey, Aang! I was just about to head down to the gardens. Do you wanna come?"

Trying to mask the pain in his voice, Aang shook his head. "No, Katara. I've got… Stuff. To do. Avatar stuff. Cya around."

Katara shrugged and headed off down the hallway.

As soon as she was out of sight, Aang let the tears fall. How could she not see how much he wanted her? He thought it was obvious. Yet she was oblivious.

Zuko didn't know her like he did. He loved her beyond humanly comprehendible. If only she could see what they could be. A beautiful miracle! Unbelievable!

Instead, he just felt invisible.  
>~~~~<p>

Bending practice. Aang loved watching the way Katara so gracefully made the water flow with her movements. She made it look effortless. When she was waterbending, she looked so calm and peaceful. But Aang knew Katara harbored a very fiery temper. When sparked, she could turn those peaceful movements into deadly ones. She fought with a passion that was hard to match.

He watched her slowly go through her routine movements. Zuko arrived, slightly late. As he was warming up with some stretches, Aang noted the way Katara started doing more elaborate and complicated postures. Aang also noted her crestfallen face when Zuko didn't even seem to notice.

Aang decided to join them.

"Hey, mind if I join you?"

Katara looked his way, smiling. "Not at all, Aang! You're welcome anytime."

Aang took up his own stretches. He tried to think of ways to get Katara's attention, anything, but came up blank. She had seen it all before. It seemed like nothing he did got the message across to her that he considered her more than just a good friend.

He couldn't think of anything besides trying to make Katara his. He loved her so much, but couldn't tell her. Not when he knew she didn't feel the same.

He thought again about how Zuko didn't know her like he did. He willed the tears to go back to where they came from, but they spilled over. How could she not know?

"Aang? You okay?"

Katara had noticed the tears running down his face.

Wiping his eyes, Aang spoke quickly while stumbling away, "Yeah… Just tired."  
>~~~~<p>

Aang knew he shouldn't be there. But he couldn't help it. In the faded light, he watched Katara from the shadows. She was standing by the turtle-duck pond, tears streaming down her face.

"How do you not know? I've done everything. Everything!" She nearly screamed the last word, throwing a rock into the shallow water. Kneeling in the grass, she held her head in her hands.

"I love you, Zuko. Why don't you see that? I want to kiss you every time I see you. Let me love you. Zuko. Zuko…"

Head on her knees, she wept. Aang was tortured seeing her so broken, but there was nothing he could do. He would only cause her more pain.

"You just see right through me! But I know we could be beautiful. A miracle. Unbelievable. Instead, I'm just invisible to you."

She turned her head slightly his way, and he could see her puffy eyes. Her deep blue irises held so much pain, he had to look away. He desperately wanted to comfort her, but didn't move.

"Mai doesn't know. She can't see the way your eyes light up when you smile. But _I _do! I love you! Zuko…"

After a long time, she just stared blankly at the turtle-ducks. Her tears had seemed to run out.

Aang slipped away, his own tears silently falling on his face. Katara's cries haunted his dreams that night.


	2. If Only

**I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.**

**From Katara's perspective.**

**~.~.~.~**

Katara sat in the hallway. She knew that Zuko walked this way every day around this time to go to his bedchambers to change for dinner. As if on cue, he rounded the corner. Katara couldn't stop a smile from creeping onto her face when she saw him.

Seeing her, he gave a friendly smile and a wave as he kept walking. Katara couldn't tear her eyes from his receding back. Even after he was gone, she couldn't get the image of his sparkling golden eyes out of her head. When he smiled, which was more often now that the war was over, every fiber of his being seemed to radiate.

Snapping out of her day dream, she looked at her lap. Zuko didn't see her the same way, and she knew it. No, he had eyes for that quiet, knife-throwing beauty, Mai.

Something flickered in the corner of her eye. Seeing Aang, she forced a smile.

"Hey, Aang! I was just about to head down to the gardens. Do you wanna come?"

Aang shook his head. "No, Katara. I've got… Stuff. To do. Avatar stuff. Cya around."

Shrugging, Katara headed towards the gardens. She came here a lot. It was a quiet, private place to let her feelings out.

She kneeled by the turtle-duck pond. She had done this quite frequently, recently. She just couldn't get Zuko out of her head.

"Mai doesn't know you. We have so much together… The cave in Ba Sing Se, finding my mother's killer, you saving my life, twice! Well… More than twice. But I've saved yours a lot, too. We have so much… Yet you can't see. If only I could show you… We could be beautiful."

Katara's speech to the turtle-ducks was met by quacks. She wiped a single tear from her cheek.

"No. Instead, I'm just invisible."

**...**

Bending practice. Katara loved the way the water flowed around her. It made her feel so peaceful, and forget her troubles for a time.

Then Zuko arrived.

Katara secretly admired his muscled figure as he warmed up. His short, quick bursts of flame heated the already-sticky Fire Nation air even more.

She thought about how powerful of a bender he was. His fire was strong. She had to force tears down when she thought about how he wasn't hers.

She decided to try to impress him.

Letting her motions flow like her element, she began some of the most complicated maneuvers that only a true master could do. Sneaking a glance at Zuko, she knew the disappointment showed on her face when he wasn't even paying any attention to her.

"Hey, mind if I join you?"

She was jolted out of her sad moment by the sound of Aang's voice.

Smiling at him, she said, "Not at all, Aang! You're welcome anytime."

Katara immersed herself in her bending. It helped dull the ache in her heart. How could she make Zuko notice her as more than just a friend?

She came up blank. There wasn't much higher you could get with saving the other's _life_. And since that hadn't worked, she didn't know what could, short of telling him straight up that she loved him.

She knew Zuko at a level Mai never could. She and Zuko had a bond that couldn't be put to words. There was something _there_! Katara believed there was. And she clung to that hope with all her might.

Shifting her gaze away from Zuko, trying to get her mind off him, she looked at her best friend. The boy from the iceberg, the life she had re-awakened. The boy she loved like her little brother.

He was crying.

"Aang? You okay?" she asked, concerned.

Sniffling, she heard him mumble, "Yeah… Just tired." Then he stumbled quickly away, leaving Katara and Zuko looking quizzically at each other.

**...**

Katara slipped out of her room and headed for the only place she could feel at peace, aside from bending.

Entering the garden in the faded light, she stood before the turtle-duck pond. The trees all around cast eerie shadows. Rocks were scattered everywhere. Stooping, she picked one up and ran her fingers over the smooth surface. Why couldn't her life be more like, that stone, so smooth? She felt a sudden hatred for the stone.

"How do you not know? I've done everything. Everything!"

She threw the stone with all her might. Nothing was that smooth. Nothing.

Dropping to her knees, she felt the tears welling up behind her eyelids. Trying to blink them back, she continued to talk to the turtle-ducks, cradling her head in her hands.

"I love you, Zuko. Why don't you see that? I want to kiss you every time I see you. Let me love you. Zuko. Zuko…"

She couldn't hold back anymore. The tears poured over. If only Zuko was here. If only she could bury her head in his chest. If only he was hers, she wouldn't have a reason to cry. Her life would be like that stone: smooth.

Her head on her knees, she cried. She didn't know how much time passed. She just cried. Cried for what she couldn't have, for what she would never be able to have. She cried for the same reason so many others have cried for; love.

She felt so broken, like she was just a shell of herself. She had always heard that loving someone who didn't love you back killed you daily. She now knew how it felt.

Soon, she had no more tears. She felt dejected. She once more tried pleading with the turtle-ducks for her love.

"You just see through me! But I know we could be beautiful. A miracle. Unbelievable. Instead, I'm just invisible to you."

She turned her head to the side to stare into the shadows. She hoped nobody saw her like this. She was a wreck.

Glancing back at the pond, she silently sighed.

"Mai doesn't even know. She can't see the way your eyes light up when you smile. But _I_ do! I love you! Zuko…"

For a long time, she just stared at the turtle-ducks. She had nothing left in her. She just wanted to curl up, fall asleep, and never wake up. In her dreams, she and Zuko were one. It was perfect.

She was jolted out of her trance by a rustle. Swinging her head around, she saw nobody.

"Of course there's nobody. If there had been somebody, they would've come to me. But no one did. Nobody wants me. Nobody."

She crawled under a tree and fell asleep almost instantly. In her dreams, she was with Zuko. They smiled, laughed, hugged, kissed, and were happy.

If only.


End file.
